With the upcoming KSeF changes at SAP, the question is how manufacturing companies with SAP and EDI can adapt their operations to the new legal obligation. One of the key aspects of this adaptation is EDIFACT, the standard for electronic exchange of logistics data in SAP.
What is SAP EDIFACT?
EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport) is an international standard for electronic data exchange, particularly popular in the transportation and logistics industry. In the context of e-invoicing, EDIFACT allows for efficient and consistent transfer of transaction information between different systems.
What does EDIFACT send in SAP?
EDIFACT allows you to send as many as 200 different messages, the most important of which are:
ORDERS – order,
ORDRSP – order confirmation,
DESADV – notification of shipment of goods,
INVOIC – invoice
EDIFACT vs. KSeF SAP
SAP system, which as widely used in manufacturing companies for business process management, has built-in EDIFACT support capabilities, unfortunately does not provide a ready-made solution for integrating EDIFACT with KSeF.
Therefore, it is necessary to rebuild SAP’s EDIFACT interface in the context of the new invoicing method. Under the new regulations, an invoice will be created only after it is sent from SAP to KSeF. Therefore, the KSeF invoice number becomes crucial, which is what should go from KSeF to SAP and through EDIFACT sent to the contractor.
How to perform EDIFACT integration with KSeF in practice?
SAP uses the ALE system and IDoc (Intermediate Document) messages to exchange data. To send and receive EDIFACT messages, companies need to convert IDoc messages to EDIFACT and vice versa.
SAP IDoc mechanisms allow you to hold an INVOIC object until a KSeF number is obtained in SAP and only send an EDIFACT message when a new invoice goes from SAP to KSeF.
Another option may be to block the INVOIC object from being sent and to extend the additional information of the invoice created in SAP and sent to KSeF with the additional information necessary to replace the INVOIC message with an equivalent, i.e. an invoice created for KSeF in SAP.
What’s next for the EDIFACT standard in SAP?
The technical adaptation of EDIFACT and KSeF through the integration of running SAP mechanisms with KSeF makes it possible to continue using this data exchange standard, which has become an industry standard in practice.
As producers of SAP’s proprietary KSeF solution and practitioners of SAP ALE technology, we will be happy to advise you on the optimal solution to efficiently update EDIFACT messages in your company.
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